Taunsa Barrage (Ramsar Site)
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Taunsa Barrage wetland site is located 20 km northwest of Kot Adu, Muzaffargarh District, Punjab, Pakistan.
The rare marbled teal Marmaronetta angustirostris is a regular passage migrant and winter visitor in small numbers. The rare Indus dolphin Platanista minor and otter Lutra perspicillata are present in the river in small numbers. The site forms a very important wintering area for waterbirds, (notably Anatidae), and a breeding area for several species, notably Dendrocygna javanica, and a staging area for certain cranes (Grus grus and Anthropoides virgo) and shorebirds. Dendrocygna javanica is a common breeding summer visitor with 325 counted in August 1995. Over 24,000 waterbirds were present in mid-January 1987, including: 620 Phalacrocorax niger, 79 Anser indicus, 2,780 Anas penelope, 770 A. strepera, 4,880 A. crecca, 270 A. platyrhynchos, 1,660 A. acuta, 390 A. clypeata, 4,690 Aythya ferina, 53 Anthropoides virgo, 150 Porphyrio porphyrio and 7,510 Fulica atra, along with fewer numbers of Tachybaptus ruficollis, Tadorna tadorna, Marmaronetta angustirostris, Netta rufina, Aythya fuligula, Hydrophasianus chirurgus, Himantopus himantopus and Numenius arquata.
The wetland was first declared as a Wildlife Sanctuary of 6,567 ha in 1972, the Sanctuary was re-listed in April 1983, then in July 1988 and subsequently in March 1993. It has been proposed that the Indus River from Taunsa Barrage upstream to Kalabagh and downstream to Guddu Barrage be declared as a World Heritage Site for the Indus dolphin Platanista minor.
Taunsa Barrage was designated a Ramsar site on March 22, 1996.
